Meet Rayce Lamb, Founder of Faithonomics and Baptist pastor who seeks to inspire wild imagination. Rayce, who is also a certified financial education instructor, is passionate about supporting faith-rooted leaders to flourish spiritually and financially while pursuing creative ideas for good. He has just launched the Doers Creative, a digital community for faith-inspired creators, and also leads the Wild Imagination Fund, which seeks to eradicate poverty in his home city of Winston-Salem, NC.
What faith(s), if any, do you practice? How does your tradition and/or spiritual practice inspire or influence you as an innovator?
I am a Queer Baptist Pastor. If that statement made you pause, don’t worry, you are not alone. I grew up in a Southern Baptist congregation in the mountains of Western North Carolina, which firmly shaped my understanding of religious liberty, place, and vocation. However, as I grew into my full self, that Baptist space became complex as I navigated the sometimes murky waters of being gay and being Christian. Thankfully, part of that journey was learning of the fullness of my Baptist tradition and coming to find a home within the Alliance of Baptists, who affirmed both my full self and my ministerial call.
As you can imagine, this dual identity fuels my innovative spirit. I grew up in a church where someone like me couldn’t exist, much less become a pastor ordained in that tradition. Yet, here I am: out and leaning into my ministerial identity. So, for me, God has already shown me that what I once believed was impossible, isn’t. If a gay farm kid from Appalachia can grow up to be a pastor, imagine all the other things that are possible.
What are you currently working on?
A social impact venture called Faithonomics. Faithonomics seeks to empower faith-inspired leaders to embrace their wild imagination and bring their bold ideas for good to life without sacrificing their financial or spiritual wellbeing in the process. The most prominent way we do this is through The Doers Creative - a digital community that equips faith-inspired doers with the education, resources, and community they need to clarify their call, develop their idea, and collaborate for impact. While the creative is open to all faith-inspired visionaries, we tailor our content to faith-inspired creators, nonprofit leaders, social entrepreneurs, and writers.
What can we find you doing when you’re not working?
If you can’t find me on my deck desperately trying to grow a full vegetable garden in pots and containers, you’ll likely find me on a hike or at a local vineyard. Now, I know what you’re thinking, but yes, North Carolina has a wine region (the Yadkin Valley) and, yes, it is low-key amazing!
What is piquing your curiosity these days?
Artificial Intelligence (AI). I’ve spent a lot of time recently learning about AI and how it can help us create, design, and innovate. Quite frankly, I’ve been amazed how it has already helped accelerate my business by freeing up the time I used to spend on mundane tasks. However, I am also curious about the moral framework being built around AI, and I am starting to pay close attention to the ethical questions being asked around its use and existence. As faith leaders, I believe it is important for us to start thinking about these questions now, even if we have not fully developed our own moral framework around AI yet.
What is something you’d like help on?
How to design videos for virtual learning. I’ve been a financial educator and vocational companion for over six years now, but most of my experience lies in face-to-face engagement whether that be in-person or online via Zoom. However, I am wanting to begin to create more on-demand learning opportunities and could use guidance on what other leaders are using to make educational content offered in a video format.
What is something you can offer others in the innoFaith network?
First, if you are in the process of bringing an idea to life, I want to invite you to explore our Doers Creative using this link. This provides you the opportunity to explore the creative free for 30 days and then join at a discounted membership rate of only $10/month.
Second, if you represent a faith-based organization, seminary, or denominational body and are looking to partner with an organization to provide financial education opportunities to your leaders, students, or clergy, I invite you to reach out and start a conversation.
Lastly, I love elevating the stories of faith-inspired innovators via the Faithonomics Podcast. If you would like to share your story, don’t hesitate to send me an email.
To connect with Rayce, you can find him via Email or on Instagram or LinkedIn. You can learn more about Faithonomics and the Doers Creative by visiting the website or connecting with them on Instagram and LinkedIn.
Meet an innoFaither is our series to introduce the inspiring optimists in the innoFaith world and what they’re working on and thinking about. We hope it helps you find and engage with each other across the network to advance faith-rooted social innovation and interfaith collaboration for social impact. Or just meet some cool people. Find the full series at www.innofaith.org/meet-an-innofaither.